Jacksonville Midget Championships tonight

Many of the best Midget racers from across America will be in Jacksonville tonight to participate in the first-ever Jacksonville Midget Championships.

While not a part of the track’s original schedule, the event was put together to coincide with the weekend of racing action at the Illinois State Fair.

The Midgets will be racing in a unique format that will pay the winner a $3,000 prize. Those who don’t qualify for the main event will race in a separate feature for $1,000 to win.

As of Thursday the track had more than 25 entries for the event from seven different states with five of those hailing from as far away as California. Track manager Ken Dobson expects that number to grow higher.

“This is going to be a fun event for both the racer and fans,” Dobson said. “I would expect by the time the haulers roll in Sunday that we should have more than 30 of the best national Midget drivers in the house, ready to put on a thrilling event.”

Dobson said the event was created to showcase Jacksonville Speedway on a national stage.

“Except for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway event in a few weeks, there really isn’t a major championship-caliber event for Midgets in the summer in the Midwest,” Dobson said. “We saw this as an opportunity to create an event with major significance that should bring a lot of people to town, and something we can grow in future years into one of the biggest events in America that racers circle on the calendar.”

Also on the card for Sunday are non-wing sprint cars, 305 winged sprints and micro sprints. Practice starts at 5:15, with racing at 6 p.m. Adult admission is $20, and $7 for ages 11-18. Kids 10 and under are free.

Dobson said he hopes fans turn out to support this inaugural running of the Jacksonville Midget Championships.

“This is one that I hope the town and area can get behind,” he said, adding that there was a reason organizers put Jacksonville in the name of the event.

”We think that in future years as the event continues to grow that it will be a source of pride for area residents as they see it mentioned elsewhere as a premier racing event,” Dobson said. “As we’ve said all week — you can’t someday say you’ve been to them all unless you make it to the first one.”